


For My Life Still Ahead

by TheAdorableTia



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Elf!Ben, Fluff, Human!Joe, Hurt/Comfort, Idiots in Love, M/M, Smut, So much angst, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:41:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26724580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAdorableTia/pseuds/TheAdorableTia
Summary: Joe knew that elves existed, but he never imagined that he would see one in his lifetime, let alone find one bleeding in the forest. His whole world is turned upside down the moment he sets eyes on the beautiful halfling Ben, and he can't find it in him to say that it was anything but fate.Ben has only ever known life in his elf village. There was only one teeny tiny issue. Ben is a halfling: half elf, half human. When his secret is found out, he's shoved from his home to fend for himself in the human world. Ben had never believed in destiny, but when he's helped by a human named Joe, he starts to think that maybe sometimes things are just meant to be.
Relationships: Ben Hardy/Joe Mazzello
Comments: 6
Kudos: 8





	1. So Sad Her Eyes, Smiling Dark Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Thank you so much for reading this, it really means a lot to me. This idea just sort of came out of the blue, and with a lot of encouragement, help and some authorship from Just_Call_Me_Floss here is the first chapter of my modern fantasy Elf!Ben and Human!Joe tale! 
> 
> Please be sure to read the notes at the beginning of each chapter for any trigger warnings.
> 
> TW: Blood, descriptions of medical procedure, non-graphic depictions of violence

Joe closed his eyes and took in a deep, even breath. It was nice to get out of his small house, and the town he lived in for a little while. It may just be the small nature reserve, and the least traveled hiking path, but it felt like he was worlds away from everything. Autumn had barely begun, and though the sun was shining warmly, there was a chilly breeze that whipped around him. He’d been walking down the trail for a good twenty minutes when something just off of the path caught his eye. There was a bright spot of blue about thirty feet to the side of the established trail. It was a shade of blue that was out of place. It was nearly neon in color, much too vibrant to be water and too big to be a flower. Even if it was some sort of vegetation, it was the wrong time of year. Things were getting colder and dying. The leaves were changing color on all of the trees.

Joe slowed his walk, and veered off to the side of the path as he tried to get a better look at what the patch of color was. 

Ben heard something approaching, and tried to shield himself further. He thought he’d be good enough here, there aren't many people coming out this far, but as the unsure footsteps step on sticks and undergrowth grow closer, he wanted to hide away. He was vulnerable, arm cradled to his chest, and would likely be overpowered if the person was quick enough, but still? The footsteps were getting closer. Then they stopped. Gritting his teeth, Ben opened his eyes and glared at the figure standing above him. He’s not in the mood for curious looks right now. 

“Fuck off,” Ben cursed, spitting on the floor at the humans feet, who took a few steps back.

Unfortunately, this didn’t deter the human as he had hoped. The hiking boot clad feet moved forward again, slowly.

“I just want to help, ok?” The human’s voice was soft, and soothing, as if Ben were some kind of frightened creature. He probably looked like one too, with his arm clutched against his chest and huddled on the ground, covered in mud and leaves.

Ben's lips curled back and he let out a half assed snarl. It was the elven in him. Living with nature, you pick up the customs, and when you want to tell an animal to leave you alone, you snarl. So he did. It was stupid though, and he felt his slightly pointed ears darken with embarrassment with what he’d done. “I don’t need your bloody help,” his voice was bitter, souring the air around them, but again, the human didn’t seem bothered. In fact, he stepped even closer, feet shuffling gently on the mossy ground. Ben clenched his jaw and tried to hide his injury, but by the way the hazel eyes widened above him, Ben knew he was found out. His shirt was stained with a sickly oil spilled green, the blood betraying his heritage. He was a halfling, but the guy didn’t know that. He just saw the blood of one of the most human hated things. Would he kill him? Maybe. Might be worth it, but damn, did Ben hope it was quick. 

Kicked out by his own family, he was a nobody. And to top off the day he was disowned, he’d been attacked by some thugs, druggies who’d be getting high and drunk in the middle of the forest. They’d seen Ben, saw his ears, and knew who he was. They thought they were ‘merciful’ by leaving him out here, in pain and crying out for his mother. She didn’t come, of course. No one did, and eventually, he’d gotten himself up and stumbled into some shelter, giving him a chance to recover before he thought about his next steps. But not long after the morning sun rose, he was disturbed again by another human. And he’d thought it was a secluded area.

“I’m not going to hurt you.” The human spoke again, in that same soft voice as he did before. He lowered himself down to the ground near Ben, his hands raised up to show they were empty. “You’re an elf. I’ve never seen one before, not in person. Just some pictures in books. I almost didn’t believe you were real.” His tone was almost.. reverent. It was like he was in awe of seeing Ben. It was ridiculous. Humans never looked at elves as beings worthy of anything other than hatred. Except for his father, but he wasn’t around anymore either.

Ben wanted to feel angry, hostile at this human who came so close to him. He’d lived with elves for most his life, all his characteristics came from them really, but for some reason, this human, with his pointy nose and deep eyes seemed genuine. Ben's eyes flashed over the figure in front of him, his brain telling him to strike and attack, but his body begging him to be open.

Ben jerked back when he saw the man reach for his bag, causing him to have to stifle a pained groan as it moved his arm. His head felt light, and the world spun for a second before righting itself as the ache ripped through him.

“I have a first aid kit in my bag, I’m just gonna get it out, ok?” Joe had to fight the urge to hold on to the poor guy when he wobbled. He only didn’t because it would frighten the man even more. “I can look at your injury, and maybe patch it up. If.. if you’ll let me.” He pulled the little white and red box from the backpack he’d taken off of his shoulders. There wasn’t a whole lot in it. Just some bandaids, gauze, tape, antiseptic, a pair of tweezers and a needle and thread.

Ben wanted to refuse. He didn’t want the pity of this human, and he didn’t want to expose himself to a stranger. No matter if this was the first real kindness he had been shown since before he’d been unceremoniously shoved out of his home village. Unfortunately, he was in no position to turn away any help he could get, and he hated that fact.

Joe looked at this grown adult, huddled down in the corner and trying to make himself smaller. Covered in mud and his own blood, the curls of his hair against sweaty temples and the way those green eyes could never settle gave the impression of a young child. Petrified of everything, a child who’d been hurt and knew they couldn’t trust anyone. The thought made a lump form in Joe’s throat, and he had to swallow a few times before he could speak.

“I don’t want to hurt you, I promise. Please, let me help you.” Joe slowly reached out one hand, palm turned up in a gesture of peace. “I’m Joseph, but you can call me Joe.” 

Ben’s wide eyes flicked from Joe’s hazel colored eyes down to the extended hand. He’d been told about how humans greeted each other, by clasping hands with one another. The hand on his good arm clutched into a fist for a moment before he reached out with it, and placed his palm against the human’s and grasped it firmly. It was warm and soft, the fingers long and delicate as they wrapped around him.  
“Ben.” His reply was gruff and to the point. No sooner than he had touched the man’s hand, he pulled his own back again. 

Joe shuffled forward, but stopped abruptly when Ben twitched away, his good arm moving up to cover his head. A small whine came from the poor man, and a glint of fear showed in his eyes. “I’m sorry!” Joe said quietly, but emphatically. “I should’ve told you I was moving.” He lowered his hands back down to the kit in front of him. “It’s ok, I’m just gonna come closer so I can look at the wound. Can you take off your shirt so I can see?” 

Ben uncovered his head, and looked a bit puzzled. The human, Joe, had apologized for scaring him? Even the elves he had grown up with rarely apologized for anything unless it had caused physical harm. He nodded slowly, knowing that quick movements would make him feel dizzy again. With difficulty, he managed to tug the bright blue shirt off of himself. He hissed in pain a couple of times as the material pulled away from the gash on his back, sticky with the green tinted blood that gave away his heritage as much as the points on his ears, hidden mostly behind his golden curls.

Joe pulled a bottle of water out of his backpack, and popped open the cap. He stayed put where he was just a couple of feet away from Ben, waiting for the elf to approach him now. The blond hesitantly scooted forwards, turning his body so that he was half facing Joe. He needed the human’s help, but he was not going to put the man fully at his back if he could help it.

Joe picked a piece of gauze out of the first aid kit and poured some water from the bottle on it before gingerly wiping at the mud and green blood on the edges of the wound. The gash was just over Ben’s shoulder blade, around five inches long and deeper on one end. He heard the elf gasp slightly when he rubbed against the edge of it. He softly apologized to the blond, and kept working in silence.

Once he’d gotten the area around the cut clean enough to really see what was going on, Joe grimaced. It was deeper than he had originally thought, but thankfully the bleeding had gone down to a trickle. There had been a few small pieces of glass that he’d managed to extract with minimal problems. It looked like it came from some sort of bottle, the color of it was hard to tell under the green blood, but it seemed to be brown. 

“I hate to say it,” Joe started softly as his fingers pressed along the edge of the cut, his gaze peering at the thick, greenish blood that welled up, “but I think it’s going to need stitches. The cut’s pretty deep, and leaving it open is a bad idea.”

Ben furrowed his brow at the human. What were stitches? They must be a human medicine, but how could they close the wound? The human couldn’t mean to sew him like a piece of cloth. That would be ridiculous. He skittered slightly when he saw Joe pull the needle and thread out of the little plastic box on the ground in front of him. “What are you doing?”

Joe held up his hands, one holding the sharp metal needle and the other a spool of thread. “It’s for the stitches. You know? Like with sewing?” He raised an eyebrow at the elf’s question. Surely the elves knew about stitches. They made clothes after all.

“You want to sew me up like a shirt?” Ben said incredulously, a look of confusion and suspicion on his handsome face. 

“It’ll keep the wound closed, and help the muscle grow back together.” He peered back at the wound. “I got all of the glass out, and flushed out the dirt. Closing it up will make sure nothing else can get in.” 

Ben looked at Joe skeptically, his green eyes assessing the serious look on the male’s face. He didn’t really have a choice in the matter, much as he loathed it. He didn’t have access to any elven remedies here. There were herbs and other things that could be used to make a poultice for this, but there were none to be found in these woods. He would have to rely on the human method.

Ben gave a quick nod of his head, and Joe set to work on threading the needle. “I’m not gonna lie, it’s going to hurt. I don’t have any painkillers with me, and I’m not totally sure how your body would react to them anyway.” Joe slowly moved a little closer to the elf, and took in a deep breath. He was rightfully nervous about this. The last time he’d applied stitches was to a practice dummy when he did the first aid course a couple of years before.

Ben grit his teeth and tensed up at the prospect of more pain coming his way. He absolutely, unequivocally hated this, but knew that he had to bear it. The other option was probable death from blood loss, infection, starvation or possibly being found by other humans who were not as kind as this one seemed to be.

“Ok, I’m going to start now, and I’m sorry about the pain, in advance.” He leaned forward and gently laid a hand against Ben’s back, letting him know he was there.

Ben hissed in a breath, and jumped slightly as the needle jabbed through his skin. It was a sharp stab of pain, but it quickly went away. The feeling of the thread moving through him was strange, and almost tickled in a way. There was another stab and he let out the smallest whine, trying to hide his reaction.

“Your accent, it’s not American. It actually sounds British. Do all elves sound like that?” Joe said as he tugged and tied up the stitch. Ben wondered why Joe was asking him a question like that while he was stabbing and pulling at his flesh.

“No, not all elves sound like this.” He said reluctantly. “It depends on the village and where their ancestors came from. The village I grew up in.. our people came from England directly to America long before I was born. And once they established the barrier, there was no real need to cross to the human realm.” His breath hitched as he spoke of his home, thinking of how he would never see his mother again, or the little cottage that he grew up in. “We don’t interact with humans very often, so there’s no way for us to change the way we talk.” Ben wasn’t sure why, exactly, he was answering Joe’s question. It wasn’t like what he told him was a big secret or anything, but he had no reason to speak to the man beyond getting through this awful experience. 

“My family is mostly Italian, been in the states for a few generations.” Joe said softly as he finished with the first stitch. He poked into the elf again, a small spot of green blood welling up as he pulled the thread through, making the blond twitch once again at the surprise. “How did you end up here? I didn’t think there were any elves this close to the city.” Calling the town a city was a bit of a stretch. Compared to places like New York City, or Los Angeles the place was quaint, barely twenty-one thousand people.

The green eyed halfling winced, both in pain from being stabbed with the needle and at the memory of how he had come to be in this situation. He’d been unceremoniously shoved out of his home when it had come to light that he wasn’t a full elf as the village had believed for so long. 

~~~~~~~~~~

He was an idiot to believe that he would never be found out, despite the fact that his ears weren’t nearly as pointy as the other elves, and his build was stockier than most. The stupidest part was that he was the one to blame for the mistake that caused him to be cast out. He was trying to be nice, helping one of the Elders of the village repair part of their cottage, when he sliced open his hand on a sharp edge of stone. The Elder noticed how Ben’s blood was a little different from that of other elves, and after dismissing him, had gone to search through the village records. Ben had no father of record, and this only confirmed the Elder’s suspicions. 

Ben’s family had quickly packed him a bag with a change of clothes and some food before guiding him through the gates of the village, and the magical barrier that separated their realm from that of the humans. They’d done it without so much as a goodbye or good luck, just wanting to shove the problem out of the way as soon as possible.

Ben stumbled through, gripping his bag close to his chest with the remnants of a question still on his tongue. But as he’d gone through, his grandmother’s hand shoving him, he’d felt nausea at the swirling feeling before suddenly he’s standing still in the middle of a forest, two inconspicuous trees hiding the portal. Oh shit. Shit! He was in the human realm now.  
“Let me back!” He turned and shouted, while walking between the trees a few times before his paces turned panicky and he was trying to jump. It was hard to skip realms, there were things that had to be done, spells and shit, none of which Ben knew. “Mum! Mum please! I-I don’t know what I did wrong... Mum?” His voice turned quiet but overwhelmed with emotion as he fell to the ground and started to cry. He hadn’t done anything he wasn’t meant to, yet he was the one being banished.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ben had been so wrapped up in the memory, that he hadn’t even noticed that Joe had finished the second stitch. “It doesn’t matter. I’m here now, and I can’t go back. Not that it matters to you.” He muttered out, and braced himself for the next bit of pain. He whimpered and jumped when the warm metal pierced into his skin again, without warning. 

After the third time Ben had jumped as Joe had pushed the needle into his skin to begin the stitch, Joe realized he should probably be warning the elf each time. It would make him tense up, but it would be better than the elf jumping each time, and making it harder for him to get a straight puncture. Joe took in a deep breath, and with a look of concentration, spoke softly as he pressed the tip of the needle against the spot for the next stitch. “Three, two, one…” and he pushed the needle into the skin. This time, the halfling didn’t jump, even though his muscles tensed slightly.

The pair stayed silent except for Joe’s little countdowns before he started each new suture. The gash was a bit jagged, and Joe was trying his best to get it to come together in as straight a line as he could, but it was coming out a little bit wonky. He could also tell this was going to be one of those scars that wouldn’t fade with time, and it made his heart ache to see this beautiful creature marred this way.

“How’d you get this cut? It’s a pretty nasty one.” Joe spoke softly while he was in the middle of another stitch, and there was only a couple more inches of the wound to close now. 

Ben’s brow furrowed as he was thrown into another memory, this one even more fresh than when he got ousted from his home, and just as painful.

~~~~~~~~~~

They left him there on the ground, spat at him and laughed at how pathetic the elf was. They watched as the green blood bubbled up to the surface and rolled down his back, the shirt stained in an instant. The broken bottle had sliced open his shirt and skin, but Ben knew it could have been much worse. He’d seen the strike from the drunken idiot coming towards his face, and had turned at the last second, putting his back up to take the brunt of the blow.

A moment later, the braying laughter of the humans was swept away as a gust of wind rushed through the little clearing. It was strong enough that one of the men stumbled from the strength of it. 

“What the fuck was that?” One of them said loudly, “Who’s there?” There was a sound in the wind, something underneath the rush of air, like a voice being carried. Ben looked up to his assailants, who wore matching expressions of confusion and fear. With another disdainful look at the bleeding half elf on the ground, the two ran off after a few more choice insults were thrown his way.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Couple of humans found me. My kind aren’t exactly welcome around here.” Ben turned his head so that he could look at Joe out of the side of his eyes. Joe looked up from where he was concentrating on sewing up the elf, his eyes a little glassy at the thought that humans like him had done this. They really were the most destructive creatures on the planet. 

Joe swallowed audibly before his eyes went back to the task at hand. “Three, two, one…” His voice was barely above a whisper as he tried to mend what others of his kind had torn apart.

When the stitches were all in place, as best as they could be with Joe’s minimal skills, he cleaned the area once again with the little bit of water left in the bottle. “I think that’s as good as it’s gonna get.” He said with a nod of his head before backing away and picking up all the dirty gauze and shoving it and the first aid kit back into his bag. He’d been out here much longer than he had planned on, and needed to go back into town for some appointments he was barely going to make at this rate. 

Ben turned himself back around to fully face Joe once again, with a bit less hostility and suspicion in his eyes. “Thank you, for patching me up.” He said gruffly, like he didn’t want to say it, but felt obligated to. He’d never see this human again, and he’d done nothing but help him so he owed him that small amount of respect.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Joe said with a small smile on his lips. “Meet me here, tomorrow at the same time so I can check on how they hold up.”

Ben did a double take. The human wanted to see him again? To make sure he was healing correctly? The look of confusion on his face must have amused Joe, because the man smiled back at him. It lit up the man’s face, crinkling the edges of his eyes.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ben. Stay safe, and keep that cut clean.” The last bit was said with more authority than he had heard from the human, and a finger pointed at him like he was instructing him. With that, Joe stood slowly and backed away until he hit the edge of clearing with a final wave.


	2. So Sad Her Eyes, As It Began

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joe goes back to check on Ben, and comes to a realization about the elf and his circumstances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! I know that it's been quite some time since I've updated this, but my writing muse has been very fickle lately. I hope you enjoy this installment!

Ben’s shoulder was itching, the skin feeling tight. Joe, as the man insisted to be called, had been gone for a few hours, and most of that time Ben had spent bathing. He wanted the blood off of him. There was a calming pool not far away, surrounded by thick forestry for protection. Ben got there easily, but others would struggle. He’d thrown his clothes in first and washed them the best he could, still moving one arm gingerly, but they were hung up on a low tree branch in a small patch of sunlight coming through. Ben could see them from where he was, having found a ledge to sit on near the little stream coming into the pool. It was picturesque here, and the blond halfling was grateful it was relatively unknown as he moved around in the nude, the water a bit cold and making his skin prickle. But still, his shoulder itched and felt hot to the touch. He’d tried submerging his upper half in the water, and for as long as it was covered, the stitches didn’t hurt, but a few beats after coming back up, they were painful. And even as his skin shriveled up and turned pruney (an unfortunate side effect of his father’s human heritage), Ben stayed in as he could get moments of peace and rest without wanting to rip his own skin off.

The morning that he saw Joe coming back again, Ben shifted around in the shadows. Joe knew how to find him, and Ben was thankful for not having to step out into the sunlight. The ginger haired man had bags with him, and Ben eyed them wearily, but as he got to their designated meeting spot, Ben blurted out all that he’s been thinking about this last night. “It hurts.”

“What?” Joe put down his bags and looked up at Ben with wide eyes.

“Where you... Where you stabbed my back with that needle? Stitches or something? It hurts. Burns and itchy. But I haven’t touched them.”

“Oh my god, turn around and let me look!” Joe moved over quickly, Ben taking a few steps back wearily, but when the man just raised his hands in surrender, Ben knew he wasn’t coming any closer. It felt wrong as he turned his back, but his ears perked up and heard no attempt to move forward from the potential attacker, so he deemed it safe enough to pull up his shirt and show where the pain was.

Joe sucked in a sharp breath between his teeth. The skin was red, tendrils sneaking down over the shoulder blade and over onto his chest, likely, and looking at where he’d done the actual stitches, they seemed to be oozing a little bit of puss. Shit, they were infected. “Ah...”

Ben turns, dropping the shirt and staring at Joe with wide eyes. “What?”

“They’re infected. I’m sorry, I didn’t do a good enough job and-“ Joe started rambling his apology, feeling like shit for hurting this sick elf even more.

“What’s the thread made from?” Ben cut across.

“What? Oh, um, I think it’s got some like nylon in it, ah, some polyester?”

Ben threw his hands in the air and let out a curse. “I can’t have non-natural things in me, dumbass. I’m a part of nature. You’ve just shoved some plastic in a tree. Well done, great job.”

There was glint deep in Joe’s eyes, a little bit of fire and the auburn haired man had to bite his own tongue to stop from making his own comeback. He closed his eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath before replying. “I didn’t know that you couldn’t handle that. It’s not like I have an instruction manual on this sort of thing.”

“Elves are deeply connected to nature, what part of that would be hard to miss?” Ben said as he threw his arms up in a gesture of frustration. He hissed out a pained breath and lowered his arms again, the pain from the stitched up cut on his back shooting through him.

Joe began to take a step forward, but stopped himself at the last second. The elf was still skittish around him, if his reaction earlier was any indication. “Look, I’m sorry that I didn’t think about it. You were bleeding and hurt and I was just trying to help.” He spoke more softly, his bit of frustration melting when he saw the pain in the blond’s face.

Ben let out a sigh, and tried to think about it from Joe’s perspective. He didn’t know how the thread would affect Ben, and at least because of his halfling nature, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been. “What’s in the bags?” He said quickly, trying to get away from the subject and avoid having to apologize to the human for his outburst. Even if an apology was justified.

Joe looked down at the bags, and his face flushed. He’d brought some stuff for the elf, that he now thought were probably not good for him. A spare set of clothes that were probably made with some unnatural material, and some food that most likely had some sort of processing to it. 

“I brought some stuff for you, but looking back, it was a bad idea. It doesn’t matter now.” His mind was going through possible substitutes for the polyester and nylon blend. It would have to be either pure nylon or silk. “I think I know a good substitute for the thread. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Joe bent over and picked up the bags, and began to quickly walk out of the clearing.

“Wait!” Ben said loudly before he could stop himself. He’d had a lot of time to think while he’d been alone in these woods for the last day and night. He’d thought of all kinds of scenarios that could happen when the morning came. Out of all of the places his mind had gone to, this was the one he’d thought was least likely. Joe came back, alone, with the full intention of truly helping him.

Joe stopped in his tracks and turned back around, confusion written across his features.

“I’m coming with you.” Ben said, while quickly moving closer to Joe. His mind moved rapidly, trying to find a justification to go along with the human that wasn’t what he was truly feeling. “The stitch things hurt, and the faster they get out of me the better.” It was the truth, but it wasn’t the whole of it. Ben had never been so alone in his life. He’d always been surrounded by his family and the members of his village, and the abject emptiness of having no one around had only been highlighted after he’d met Joe. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, especially given what happened..” Joe trailed off, not wanting to say out loud why Ben had been injured in the first first place. He was hesitant to bring the elf with him, fearing the fall out if anyone found out about Ben’s true nature. He did have to give credit to the blond’s reasoning, though. The faster the synthetic thread was out of him, the sooner real healing could begin.

“We can hide my ears if that’s what you’re worried about.” Ben huffed out. He crossed his arms over his chest in an almost petulant way. His ears were pointed, yes, but not tipped as delicately as a full elf. They were mostly hidden beneath his curls anyway, and a hood or a hat would do well enough to keep them from accidentally showing.

“I was thinking the hole in your shirt, and the stitched up gash beneath would be a little more alarming.” Joe said with a definite edge of sarcasm. His thoughts went to the bag in one of his hands. He had brought a jacket he thought might fit on the tall broad man, and a beanie. He hadn’t considered them being used to hide Ben’s features, but as a means for the elf to keep warm. However, they would also have the benefit of covering the tips of the blond’s ears and the slash in his shirt well enough.

Ben looked at Joe expectantly, “You do know that I could just follow you? Being out in nature is sort of an elf thing.” The blond’s expression turned smug, thinking he’d gained the upper hand in being able to track the human when he left. 

Joe’s lips curled up at the corners just a little bit. Ben was an elf who, for his entire life, had lived through a magic barrier where they didn’t have cars. The man was going to be in for a nasty shock when he found out about those, and that if Joe got into his without the blond, he would be left behind in the dust.

The pair went back and forth for a solid ten minutes, debating the pros and cons of having Ben come back into town with Joe. The elf occasionally pulled a grimace when he gestured a little too vigorously, and that alone made Joe’s resolve waver each and every time.

In the end, Ben won out. It was more practical to bring the elf with him than to leave him behind in the woods, even if the risk of Ben being found out was much higher than if he stayed. Joe opened up one of the canvas bags and pulled out a black hooded jacket he had scrounged up from the depths of his closet. He checked the tag on it and saw that it was supposedly made from one hundred percent cotton, but in this day and age you never really could know if the label was true.

The redhead passed the jacket over to the elf, and was satisfied when the hood was sufficient in hiding most of the blond’s hair and covered up his ears. Ben’s boots were obviously homemade, but they could pass as being ‘old school.’ 

The look on Ben’s face when Joe explained that they would be taking his car back to town was priceless. Ben knew about cars. He’d heard about them from his mother and others who had traveled past the barrier to human lands before. He’d never imagined that he would ever actually ride in one. The things were both primitive and advanced in his own eyes, and he stared at the machine in wonder for a few moments before Joe opened up the passenger door for him.

“The marvel of human technology.” The human said before instructing Ben on how to buckle himself into the seat. After he had turned the engine over and started up some quiet music for the trip Ben started asking more questions. How did the car work? How fast could it go? 

“We have something similar in the elven realm.” The halfling said about ten minutes into the drive after Joe had done his best to explain how combustion engines worked with his limited knowledge.

Joe raised an eyebrow, taking his eyes off of the road for a second to see that the blond was looking at him with a grin that made dimples appear on his chiseled cheeks. “You have vehicles in the elven realm?” From the way Ben spoke earlier, he thought that elves basically walked everywhere, possibly had horses and other farm animals. He did not think that they would have unaided transport.

“Sort of. We have these.. We call them rollers. They’re sturdy carts that we use for long distance travel. They’re powered by magic, like the barriers are.” Ben was more animated talking about these magic transports than he had been about anything else Joe had spoken with him in the last two days. “We draw power from Nature, and use it to make them move on their own.”

Joe was so lost in thought as he contemplated the idea of  _ magic cars _ that he nearly missed the turn off to the shopping district. He let out a small chuckle as he saw the blond elf taking in the sights of the street. Joe was also pleased to note that the streets weren’t filled to bursting with people. Thankfully, weekday mornings meant for easier shopping as most people were at their jobs or school.

That fact didn’t stop Joe from thoroughly scanning the street once he’d found a spot to park about a block away from the little craft shop. He turned to tell Ben that he’d be back in a few minutes, but the elf had already unbuckled himself and was out on the sidewalk. 

“Oh Jesus!” Joe exclaimed as he quickly exited the car after making sure he wouldn’t be taken out by a passing vehicle. “Ben, you were supposed to wait in the car!” Joe said in exasperation as he gently tugged at the sleeve of the jacket that the blond was wearing. Ben flinched slightly at the gesture and Joe let go quickly. “I’m sorry, I forgot.” 

“Joe. I’m stuck in the human realm. If I’m going to be in it, I should get used to it.” It was a point that he’d also brought up during the little argument they’d had in the clearing not a half an hour before. Joe grumbled under his breath, still not happy with the idea of having an elf running around the streets of the town.

“Ok, fine. But stay close to me, and don’t remove your hood.” Joe said, while pointing a finger up the elf. Ben gave him a look that very clearly telegraphed ‘Do I look that stupid?’ Joe blushed slightly and gestured in the direction they needed to go.

The pair walked in quick strides, on a mission. Ben asked questions about signs and buildings as they walked, and Joe did his best to explain the history of the town and shops that they passed by.

“And this…” Joe said as he stopped and gestured to their destination, “ is our stop.” The window of the little shop was filled with all sorts of handcrafted items; little paintings, needlepoint pieces, and even a couple of pieces of pottery. Ben gave Joe a quizzical look, one eyebrow raised as he took in the craft shop window. He may not know a lot about the human realm, but he knew that this was not somewhere a human should be buying medical supplies.

Joe grinned and opened the door, ever the gentleman, and gestured for Ben to go in before him. Ben entered the shop with a raised eyebrow, his gaze moving around the room at all of the colorful fabrics, pottery making supplies, and other types of art supplies. His immediate reaction was to move around the room and study everything, but a serious glance from Joe had him shoving back that urge.

Joe made his way through the little shop, the only other person inside was the girl behind the counter. The young woman did a small double take when the men entered. She knew Joe, in a way. She knew who he was, and that he occasionally came in to buy things for his mom. She’d never once seen him enter with another person. Let alone a gorgeous blond guy.

Joe led Ben to the section where all of the sewing supplies were kept. There were all sorts of things here; needles, thread, all sorts of materials like wool and yarn, frames for needlepoint and so much more crammed into such a small space. Ben was taken back for just a moment to his recent past. He’d been working on making blankets with his mother just before he’d been unceremoniously pushed out of the village. There had been a rise in pregnancies, so his mother had enlisted him in helping to make blankets for the coming babies.

He shook his head to clear his mind as Joe pulled out a spool of thread with an exclamation of victory. He held the white thread up in front of Ben, “One hundred percent pure silk thread.”

Ben took the thread from Joe and ran his fingers along it, and inspected it closely. He didn’t have an immediate reaction, but he also hadn’t had one with the current thread either. It wasn’t like unnatural things would burn him on contact. If they had, he wouldn’t have survived being in the car and the poisoning from the thread would have probably left him a lot worse than he already was. His cursory inspection was good though. He gave Joe a nod and handed the silk back to the human man.

Joe quickly scurried up to the counter, Ben trailing slowly along behind him. He was still taking in everything in the shop, and wondered how they had managed to cram that much different stuff into such limited space. Back in his village, each type of item would have a different seller. One would sell knitting and sewing supplies, another pottery, and another paint and brushes. It was odd to see such varied things all in one place.

By the time Ben had caught up with Joe at the little counter, he was handing the female behind it some paper notes, all the while exchanging pleasantries with her.

“So, Joe, who’s your friend?” The woman said, trying to sound casual as she exchanged the notes for other notes and some coins. She smiled at Ben. She was pretty in an average human way, at least, that’s what Ben assumed. He wasn’t used to the way that humans judged attractiveness, but he guessed she was pleasant enough. Joe was out of her league though, in his own quickly formed opinion. 

“Oh uhm, this is Ben.” Joe said as a slight blush crawled up onto his cheeks. He quickly stuffed the notes and coins back into his wallet. The girl gave a smile to the blond, one that was supposed to be flirty. Ben didn’t see the appeal in it. It wasn’t as alluring as the pink that was rising on Joe’s cheeks. An odd thought, he mused to himself. 

“Nice to meet you.” Ben spoke quietly, trying to be polite as he could in the circumstance. The back of his shoulder was starting to itch again, and he wasn’t very keen on the way the girl was looking at him. Or Joe for that matter. The look was a mixture of something between possession and hunger. It unsettled Ben, but Joe didn’t seem affected by the woman’s look. He either didn’t notice it, or had grown accustomed to it over time and ignored it.

“It’s been nice to see you again Amy, but things to do.” Joe said with a polite grin at the woman as he turned away and gently took hold of one of the sleeves of the hoodie Ben was wearing and tugging it gently. Ben gave the woman a smile as well, but it was markedly different to the bland one that the redhead had turned towards her. The halfling’s smile more resembled that of a wild animal, baring its teeth at a rival predator. All teeth and a slightly malicious glint in the eyes. A warning if there ever was one.

“Lovely to meet you Amy.” Ben spoke with a pleasant tone in a contrast to the vicious smile while he followed after Joe. “She seems.. Nice.” Ben said once the door had closed behind them and they began their trek back to the car. What Ben was really thinking was not nearly as kind as his words. 

“Yeah.. Amy’s ok. Her mom owns the shop, and she helps out.” Joe opened up the car door for Ben, waiting for the elf to settle in before shutting the door and running around to get back into the driver’s seat. Then it suddenly hit him. Where were they even going to go? He hadn’t exactly thought that all the way through before bringing the elf into town. He could take Ben back to the clearing in the woods, but what then? Would he just leave the guy out there defenseless yet again? There were a couple of hotels in town but leaving him alone in a place surrounded by humans felt weird. Not to mention the awkwardness of having to check him in to the place. 

The ginger let out a groan as realized the only real option that he had would be to take the elf back to his home. It was private, and he wouldn’t have to worry about strangers coming into contact with Ben without Joe around. It was weird, but once Joe thought about that solution, it didn’t bother him nearly as much as he thought it would. Having a stranger in his house, an elf no less, should have sent off alarm bells. It didn’t though. In any case, with everything that the elf had so clearly been through, it was the least that Joe could do for him. He even had a spare bedroom that the guy could stay in.

“So Ben, I was thinking,” Joe pulled out of the place he had parked once he made sure the roadway was clear. “It’s ridiculous to take you back to the clearing. I mean, I’m sure you could survive out there just fine for awhile, but it’s starting to get colder and living in the reserve would be all kinds of illegal anyways.” He was rambling a little bit, nervous about the prospect of telling Ben his idea.

“It’s illegal to live out in nature?” Ben interrupted Joe’s little speech. “That’s stupid. In the elven realm we live as close to nature as we can, you know while keeping as comfortable as possible.” It wasn’t that much different than this town that they were in. There were large stone structures, but there were also trees and flowers along the pathways. The buildings here were bigger, and the plants less abundant but not too far off from his home.

Joe chuckled lightly. “It’s not illegal to live in nature, it’s illegal to live on land that isn’t yours.” Joe wondered if elves had any sense of ownership of land. It felt like they didn’t, being a part of it and all, but it still crossed his mind. “Anyways, I uhm… I have space in my house, a spare bedroom.” The older man did his best to keep his eyes on the road, but he could feel the heat burning in his cheeks. “You could stay with me until you figure out what to do next.”

Ben’s gaze snapped over to where Joe sat in the driver’s seat, the hazel eyed man doing his very best to keep his eyes on the road, and avoiding looking the half elf in the eyes at the same time. The blond’s eyes were wary once again. He’d grown more comfortable in the presence of the human, who had so far shown no ill intent towards him. It was one thing to trust this stranger with patching him up, but it was entirely different to live under the same roof. Ben would probably be at his mercy. 

The human kind had not been good to Ben as a whole. Him, or his people. Joe, though. Joe had been nothing but honest and good towards the half elf. He’d patched him up, with supplies that weren’t good for the elf, but he had tried. He’d also immediately sought to fix his mistake once the issue had come to light.

Ben took in a deep breath, trying to center himself while he thought through his options, and he caught a whiff of something he hadn’t really noticed before. He had been focused on so many other things that he hadn’t noticed the faint hint of pheromones that came from the redhead. His keen sense of smell, inherited from his elf side, allowed him to scent things that the humans couldn’t. It was that faint scent that had Ben blurting out.

“I’d appreciate that very much, Joe. If it’s not too much trouble.” It was the nicest that Ben had been to Joe ever since they met. No joke, no combative attitude, and it took the human male by surprise. He’d been expecting an argument or hesitation on the elf’s part.

“Ok then..” Joe said, his voice a little hesitant. They drove in mostly silence, the quiet broken up by more of Ben’s occasional questions about things they passed. When they finally pulled up in front of Joe’s small house, Ben took a minute to take in the dwelling.

It was bigger than most elf cottages, set on a plot of land that was surrounded by grass and trees, giving privacy from the neighbors. It wasn’t entirely necessary as the houses were set far enough apart that they wouldn’t be able to see in any windows. The house was white and made of wood, with a red front door and windows outlined in a pale blue. It suited Joe, Ben decided. The word ‘Cozy’ came to mind while he followed Joe up the front steps and into the place. 

Ben’s earlier ease went away a little as he scanned the area, remembering where exactly he was. Going into a strange human’s home, locked out of his own for the foreseeable future. Quite possibly forever. The thought was sobering, and he moved with more caution as the redhead opened up the door and gestured for Ben to enter behind him.

Ben’s eyes darted around, taking in the room, and looking for any signs that more humans might be around. His heightened hearing didn’t pick up any other sounds in the house besides the two of them in the entryway.

His earlier thought of the word ‘cozy’ had been spot on. Everywhere in the dwelling had signs of being well lived in. Plush furniture, wooden tables and chairs that looked old, books were scattered everywhere along with little statues and trinkets.

Joe took him on a tour of the house, and it made Ben smile when the human tried to hide a pair of socks that had been left on the coffee table. Why they’d been there in the first place was anyone’s guess. Joe led Ben to a small room near the back of the house and gestured inside. It held a bed, a dresser, and a small desk. The room was simple, and plain and looked like it was never used. The guest room that he’d told the elf about before. 

“And this will be your room.” The redhead gave a slightly embarrassed look. “It’s not much, but it’s better than the woods.”

Even through his wariness, Ben gave a cheeky little grin back to the male. “Not by much, but I guess it’ll do.” The quiet laugh that escaped Joe was well worth the dumb remark.

**Author's Note:**

> A massive shout out and hugs to Just_Call_Me_Floss for being so patient and enthusiastic with me about my dumb ideas and helping me out with just about anything and everything. I swear I could not do this without her! Please come shout at me on Tumblr, my username is the same as on here. 
> 
> Don't forget to comment down below and let me know what you think. Kudos are also very much appreciated!


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